Throwaway crown cap remover



Aug. 7, 1956 c. SCHMITZ THROWAWAY CROWN CAP REMOVER Filed April 21, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent THROWAWAY CROWN CAP REMOVER Carl Schmitz, Guttenberg, N. J.

Application April 21, 1953, Serial No. 350,018

1 Claim. (Cl. 215-46) This invention relates to a bottle throwaway crown cap remover and to a combination beverage bottle crown cap and throwaway remover and has for an object to provide a throwaway crown cap remover for use in connection with a conventional beverage bottle or container and a conventional crown cap, and particularly to provide a throwaway bottle cap remover that is so inexpensive that it may be placed over the lip of the beverage bottle and be supported on the shoulder therebelow without interfering in any way with the normal filling or capping of the bottle, will not interfere with conventional machinery used in the filling and in the capping of the bottle, and when used to remove the crown cap, may be left in position if the crown cap is reused for temporary sealing of the bottle with part of the contents still remaining therein, and may be finally discarded and thrown away at the same time that the crown cap is discarded and thrown away.

A further object of this invention is to provide a throw? away remover for a crown cap, which may be made inexpensively from suitable metal, and which may be placed into operative position on the beverage bottle by simply dropping it over the lip of the bottle, either before or after the contents have been placed in the bottle, and, of course, before the crown cap has been placed on the lip of the bottle to seal it in the conventional manner by the conventional machinery.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved crown cap remover, which enables the, bottle to be opened with one hand by simply placing one hand around the neck of the bottle and placing ones thumb beneath a projecting tongue of the opener and exerting upward pressure, whereupon the opener or remover will lift the crown cap off of the lip of the bottle.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved crown cap remover which may be made in several difierent forms as disclosed of either flat stock, or of stock or wire that is circular in cross section, and which in each form is provided with a downwardly extending fulcrum at one side thereof, in various forms, and at the other side is provided with an upwardly extending fulcrum, likewise in several forms, as shown.

Briefly, this invention comprises a throwaway ring which is placed over the bottle lip before the crown cap is placed thereon, and which ring has a downwardly extending fulcrum either in the form of a bent segmental portion of the ring, or of a boss, teat or the like providing the fulcrum, and diametrically imposed from this fulcrum is a second upwardly extending fulcrum of similar form.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention comprises the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, claimed and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

-Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the throwaway remover of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of a bottle neck and crown cap thereon with this invention in positionv thereon.

Fig. 4 is a side plan view of this remover in operation.

There is shown at 40 the throwaway bottle cap remover of this invention consisting of a length of wire 41 formed into a ring of proper size and having its ends 47 turned outwardly and upwardly in side by side parallel relation, and secured together by a strap of metal 45 formed thereabout into a band 46.

Diametrically opposite this outwardly extending tongue 43 formed by the wire ends '47 is a downwardly bent segment portion 44.

In operation, the ring 41 is sufliciently greater than the diameter of the bottle lip 15 that it will easily pass thereover in either direction, and is also less than the maximum diameter of the crimped flange 16 of the crown bottle cap 17, and also, the inner diameter is greater than the diameter of the bulge or shoulder '18 of the bottle 20, into which the flange 16 is crimped when sealing the cap 17 for closing the bottle 20.

The downwardly extending segment portion 44 provides one fulcrum and the opposite outwardly and'upwardly extending tongue 43 and band 46 thereabout provide an opposite upwardly extending fulcrum, and by pressing the thumb upwardly under the band 46, the bottle cap 17 is removed in the same manner.

While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that, this invention is not to be considered as being limited to the exact form disclosed, and that changes in detail and construction may be made therein within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is: I

In combination with a bottle having a bead adjacent its top, a flange extending above said head, and a crimped cap secured about said flange, a disposable opener loosely positioned between said bead and said cap extending about said flange, said opener comprising an annular wire ring, circular in cross section, afulcrum portion of said ring extending downwardly at an obtuse angle from the main portion of said ring adapted to engage said head, a thumb engageable tongue diametrically opposite said fulcrum portion extending upwardly and outwardly at an obtuse angle beyond the periphery of the main portion of said ring and adapted to engage the lower edge of said crimped cap at a leverage point, said ring being comprised of a circularly formed length of wire having its ends juxtaposed and extending radially and outwardly at an obtuse angle of said ring to form said tongue, and a metal band detachably surrounding said wire ends holding said ends together to secure said ring in position, said band being adapted to engage said cap at said leverage point whereby upon upward pressure on said tongue, said fulcrum portion engages said bead and said leverage point engages said cap, readily to lift said cap from said bottle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 796,734 Kirkegaard Aug. 8, 1905 985,255 Forsythe Feb. 28, 1911 2,183,588 Reardon Dec. 19, 1939 2,311,719 White Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS a 483,046 Great Britain Apr. 7 1938 467,545 Italy Dec. 10, 1951 

